Past Engagement
October 2016
On June 3, 2016, a 96-car train carrying nearly three million gallons of Bakken Crude Oil derailed in downtown Mosier, Oregon. Sixteen cars left the tracks, and four tank cars caught fire. About 47,000 gallons spilled into the air, the ground, the ground water, the Columbia River, and the City’s waste-water treatment plant. After the immediate emergency response and basic clean up, the City, the Fire District, and the School Foundation came together to form Team Mosier. Team Mosier is negotiating with representatives of Union Pacific Railroad to seek an agreement on what Union Pacific will do to correct the problems that the spill created, to reduce the possibilities that similar events will occur in the future, and to improve the ability of the community to respond to potential future events. Team Mosier generated a potential list of projects that meet those criteria and will contribute to community resiliency.
In September 2016, Team Mosier collaborated with Oregon’s Kitchen Table to design and facilitate a community workshop on the completeness of the list and on community priorities amongst the projects on the list.